Where I live, some say “I forgive but I don’t forget”, others say “Paolo”. Some are just tribal drawings or weird things that, to me, make no sense at all. What am I talking about? Tattoos, of course!
For some, tattoos are just a way to show off, or something nice to have on your skin for a while when you’re young and pretty. Some people don’t actually think they’re permanent. When they were tattooing that “Paolo” on their left boob, they might not have known that the guy was cheating on them. For others, tattoos are the worst stain on your credibility, a threat to having a serious job.
A tattoo is forever: that might be a pro or a con of getting one. Why would a person want something permanent on his/her skin, something that might get worse with time? Most of all, why would you do something you might easily regret in the future? Some might say it’s fashionable, for others it’s the “foreverness” of it all that is appealing.
Here’s the opinion and advice of a reasonable-enough person that still decided to get two tattoos (and is already planning the third). I didn’t tattoo myself while drunk or under effect of drugs (I got drunk just once in my life and I DON’T do drugs, I’m a health freak). Luckily, most tattooers don’t draw anything on you if you’re drunk anyway: so mine was a choice, an idea I thought through during the years.
I don’t consider getting a tattoo a rational choice: there’s something irrational in scratching your skin creating a scar you know you can regret for ever. However, I really think that a tattoo, to be done, needs to mean something to you: something you’re willing to carry on your body for your entire life. I was really shocked when a famous Italian tattooist I met told me that a tattoo must be “something nice, it shouldn’t mean anything.”
As I said, a tattoo is a scar: like a scar, it will remind you of something. It has to be something you want to remember, something with a meaning. Not a cupcake or a bird, if it doesn’t mean anything to you: it will get old and ugly anyway, so it should be something important. A tattoo, in my opinion, shouldn’t be your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s name. We are young, you might break up after a week. Sometimes the name is even ugly. And do you really need a name on your boobs or whatever to remember an important relationship? Some things are stuck into your brain anyway.
Another tip I would give is: think of what you want to do in your life. For some jobs, like an air controller, tattoos are the best ways not to be accepted. If you’re planning to be a rockstar or an actor, getting huge tattoos might be all right. You’re going to be fit anyway. If you’re going to be a teacher or whatever, it might not be the same.
Also, think about which part of your body you want to be tattooed: sometimes, a hidden place is better if you’re planning to have a lot of job interviews. You also have to bear in mind that your body will change: you might gain weight, get pregnant or simply get old and your tattoo will change with you. So I would recommend body parts that are not too subject to time changes and weight gain/loss.